Obama’s Faith-Based Adviser Harry Knox Bashed Pope and Catholic Church For Many Years

If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Obama’s Faith-Based Adviser Harry Knox Bashed Pope and Catholic Church For Many Years, Records Show
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
By Karen Schuberg

(CNSNews.com) – Harry Knox, who serves on President Barack Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and who has said the Pope is “hurting people in the name of Jesus,” has a record of making anti-Catholic statements.

As reported on Feb. 2, Knox told CNSNews.com that he stands by his March 2009 statement that Pope Benedict XVI is “hurting people in the name of Jesus” by not condoning condom distribution as the solution to AIDS in Africa. “I do” still hold that view, said Knox.

Knox’s earlier, March 2009 statement about the Pope was posted on the Web site of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a homosexual activist group where Knox works as director of the HRC Religion and Faith Program.

The statement, posted two weeks before Knox was appointed to Obama’s Advisory Council, partly says: “The Pope’s statement that condoms don’t help control the spread of HIV, but rather condoms increase infection rates, is hurting people in the name of Jesus.”

“On a continent where millions of people are infected with HIV, it is morally reprehensible to spread such blatant falsehoods,” reads the statement. “The pope’s rejection of scientifically proven prevention methods is forcing Catholics in Africa to choose between their faith and the health of their entire community. Jesus was about helping the marginalized and downtrodden, not harming them further.”

Knox has issued other statements critical of the moral teaching of the Catholic Church in regard to sexuality.

I think people have the right to criticize the Catholic Church's teachings, without it being labelled "bashing". Condoms are the most effective method of HIV prevention outside of abstinence.

If the Pope did say that condoms don't help stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and actually increase it, he is manipulating facts to defend his church's teachings against birth control/premarital sex/homosexuality. I don't have a problem with the Catholic Church teaching that those things are morally wrong-I'm not a catholic, I'm not obligated to view the Pope as infallible. He should be clear that the church's condemnation of birth control is due to the church's condemnation of sexual immorality/promiscuity, instead of stating that actually using condoms will contribute to the spread of HIV.